A byproduct of aging nuclear weapons stockpiles could help power spacecraft on missions lasting decades. Americium-241, an isotope that can be separated from aged plutonium, is being studied as a ...

Space explorations cannot rely on solar power alone. Especially when it comes to the far reaches of our solar system, the Sun's rays become so diminished that solar panels are highly impractical. The ...

Actinides are a group of heavy, radioactive elements that include uranium, plutonium, americium, curium, berkelium and californium. Understanding how these elements bond with other atoms (known as ...

This week's element is americium, which has the atomic symbol Am and the atomic number, 95. This element was named for the continent, North America (or the country, the United States of America, ...

Scientists can remove americium from nuclear waste to make it safer pidjoe/iStock A new way to make nuclear waste safer has been developed. The technique aims to remove americium from waste, one of ...

Americium isotope Am 241 was identified by a group of researchers at the University of Chicago in 1944 and was the fourth trans-uranium element to be discovered, via successive neutron capture ...